Live from the Magic, 2/4 to 2/11/2006

[E&BMom]

TigerB...I am not 100% sure but I seem to remember them saying we had up to 1-2 weeks after the cruise to rebook. It wouldn't hurt calling and asking. Let us know what they say. Glad you had a great time and your mom sounded like she a an great experience!!!!! What a great family!!!!

 

[yachtsea]

Well, we are home. I can't believe it is all behind us now. Is there therapy for this? I did mention to Steve of Steve and Tonya that it could be a new job on the ship for him (therapist.)

Anyway, what a great and relaxing trip. I will start with my trip report today on this thread. Of course we did not do any excursions but what we did do was so fun.

Here goes - We left Charlotte on Thursday afternoon. It started raining about 50 miles into our trip. And then it didn't stop. Amazing how much water came out of the sky for the next three days. We drove to Brunswick, Ga. that evening and stayed at a great Holiday Inn there. We left there Friday morning in the rain and drove down to Canaveral. We checked in at the Holiday Inn Express close to the port. We decided to hit the mall for last minute stuff and of course, I had to get some cold med. for my sore throat. Boy that Mucinex does the trick. Anyway, we shopped and then went to dinner at Carrabas in the rain.

Then the day had arrived. Oh my gosh, I looked out to check the weather - and surprise - it was raining and very windy. But who cares - we were on our way to the Magic. We got checked in and were in group 3 for the people called to getting on the ship. We sat and stared at the ship while making last minute calls to the family. Then they called the numbers. It did not take long cause they basically call 1 then 2, and 3 pretty close together.

Don't you love stepping on board and having your name called? Of course, we mentioned that it was our 30th anniversary and they announced that and people clapped. It was great. We headed immediately to Parrot Cay for lunch. We got our hand wipes (they hand them to you right from the container now) and proceeded to fill up our plates. Yummy. Then we walked around a bit to see the new things that were on the ship. I loved the outdoor movie.

We stopped by our room and then headed to the Dis meet in BillinAz's room. What a nice suite! That would be the only way I would ever see one of those. I would never be able to spend that kind of money. Just get me on the ship is the way my husband feels. We met several of the Dissers that had been talking back and forth on the boards. It was a lot of fun. We would see each other throughout the week and stop to chat or say "hello." That was fun.

Dinner was in Lumieres that evening. We got great tablemates. They were a couple around our same age traveling alone from Iowa. It was just a nice round table for 4 and we loved it. They were so nice and we had a lot in common. I don't think we could have handpicked a better couple.

I don't remember much about Sat. night but it was great whatever we did.

I am gonna go now and continue the mammoth unpacking and laundry chore. Yuck.

I will say though that our dog, YachtSea, is very happy to be back home. Who would ever think that a cute little poodle could be so distressed and cause such a commotion at my daughter's house.

More later.

 

[Billinaz]

Then they called the numbers. It did not take long cause they basically call 1 then 2, and 3 pretty close together.

I wonder who had a 1?

We were first up the escalator that day and got a 2. Since we did not need the boarding card, I still have it......

 

[eznunzit]

Thank you so much for posting your reports! We can't wait for our cruise in September.

I thought I read somewhere that group one are rooms with concierge service (cat. 1-3)???

We are trying to decide if we are going to drive up the day before and stay @ the Radisson or wake up and drive up that day. I think it is a 5 1/2 hr drive from the FL. Keys so it may be a risky haul.

I am looking forward to the rest of your reports.

 

[yachtsea]

I think that the people with 1 were the handicapped that I saw going on pretty early.

I really liked the new boarding method. That way you did not have to stand in that awful line like before. By the way, Bill, it was nice meeting you and your family. You had a beautiful suite.

eznunzit: I would definitely drive up the day before. That is too long of a drive to make the morning of and you never know when you might run in to a bit of traffic, flat tire, etc. You will feel much more relaxed once you are in Canaveral.

 

[Billinaz]

Thank you so much for posting your reports! We can't wait for our cruise in September.

I thought I read somewhere that group one are rooms with concierge service (cat. 1-3)???

We are trying to decide if we are going to drive up the day before and stay @ the Radisson or wake up and drive up that day. I think it is a 5 1/2 hr drive from the FL. Keys so it may be a risky haul.

I am looking forward to the rest of your reports.

The disabled and the suites were preboarded, we did not need a boarding card. They just opened up the entrance from the concierge area.

 

[Billinaz]

That room was the first we ever stayed in and as you saw, its hard to go to anything else!

Thank You to those who left $30 to help offset the cost of those goodies they catered in the suite.

I think that the people with 1 were the handicapped that I saw going on pretty early.

I really liked the new boarding method. That way you did not have to stand in that awful line like before. By the way, Bill, it was nice meeting you and your family. You had a beautiful suite.

eznunzit: I would definitely drive up the day before. That is too long of a drive to make the morning of and you never know when you might run in to a bit of traffic, flat tire, etc. You will feel much more relaxed once you are in Canaveral.

 

[yachtsea]

You are welcome, Bill. No need for you to pay for the whole thing. I thought it was great that you let us in. I hope that you and your family had a great trip. I know that we did.

 

[1stTimeDisneyCruiser]

We finally made it home after a 22...no...23 hour trip. Should have been 22 but had a little side trip due to an accident (no, not us; just needed to help a stranded college student who went in a ditch after a white out). Wouldn't you know we were just under an hour from home, too. Thankfully she was just fine and her car only suffered minor damage.

I'm still in a fog and don't really believe this week actually happened. As usual Disney manages to create "Magic" around every corner. I think the most magical part was the sunshine coming out just after we pull away from port last Saturday after a day and a half of torrential downpouring.

The only Dis'ers we managed to meet were Steve and Tonya (thanks for looking us up guys!). Sorry we missed you on Castaway Cay; Rich said he nearly ran Steve down getting us a spot on the beach with a hammock and all. He pointed out where he thought you were and we went by a couple times by land and sea trying to find you but no luck.

What a full week and oh the things we never even made it to but we don't care; we relaxed and had a blast. We thought the weather was great after Sunday and the seas weren't rough at all.

Favorite part: Castaway Cay
Least favorite: Having to get off the ship yesterday and fogetting all our formal wear in the closet at home (Note to anyone else who this may happen to...please don't let it ruin your cruise. I think my kids were happier not being in stuffy clothes and I know my husband was. I was a little depressed at first but my family snapped me out of it.)

Gotta go attack the huge pile of clothes spilling out of my family room. So as your cruise director Rachel would say:

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls".

Laura

 

[cruisecrzy]

Didn't unpack them yet, but I remember that the princess meet and greet was on Thursday late morning (11ish?).

Johnna Story,
Thanks for the info. That helps with our Palo decision and is different then the Navigator that is posted online which I thought it would be. Thanks for all the info you have posted. It is helping us plan our trip.

 

[PizzieDuster]

Thank you so much for posting your reports! We can't wait for our cruise in September.

I thought I read somewhere that group one are rooms with concierge service (cat. 1-3)???

We are trying to decide if we are going to drive up the day before and stay @ the Radisson or wake up and drive up that day. I think it is a 5 1/2 hr drive from the FL. Keys so it may be a risky haul.

I am looking forward to the rest of your reports.

eznunzit: I would try to go the night before. On our first cruise there was a accident on the highway! We were the last bus and the last people to board. I was a mess! I was stressing! Aren't we there yet! We were in stop..stop...stop and wait traffic for 2 additional hours!


"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls".
OH BOY.. Does that bring back a fond memory I forgot...thank you for reminding me of that.

 

[Billinaz]

We ran into people from the cruise all day at MCO. We had to wait for a late flight... but at least we had a day room to relax in at the Hyatt. Kindof depressing seeing the DCL area there with people just starting their cruises!


I think the best part was Melanie getting the private audience with her favorite princess (Princess Aurora). She was absolutely speechless and starstruck!) I have to do something to Arnaldo our concierge for making this possible.

 

[PizzieDuster]

We ran into people from the cruise all day at MCO. We had to wait for a late flight... but at least we had a day room to relax in at the Hyatt. Kindof depressing seeing the DCL area there with people just starting their cruises!


I think the best part was Melanie getting the private audience with her favorite princess (Princess Aurora). She was absolutely speechless and starstruck!) I have to do something to Arnaldo our concierge for making this possible.

Twice we had dayrooms at the MCO Hyatt. It was much better than trying to sleep on chairs. We had late flights too to LA. I loved watching the future cruisers. I always think "ahh, it won't be as FUN as what we just did." And then I remembered "oh, so that's why they stared at US when we were waiting for our cruise

 

[Johnna_Story]

Okay - am getting into the strong pull of depression that we're not still on the cruise, and won't be for some time. Hopefully the Disboards will help the healing process...

Will post the next few days of trip reports later tonight or tomorrow - will that relieve or exacerbate the sadness??

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

Johnna Story,

When you get your Navigator's unpack can you tell me what day(s) the princess meet and greet is on the Western. We are going on the Eastern in March and wanted to do Palo Brunch on Monday, but the Navigator that is posted shows it is only on Monday. It was multiple days on our Nov. 7 day last year.

Thanks.

We were all on the eastern -- it was Thursday morning at 11:30. Last day at sea.

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

Well, now that I'm back in a place where I don't want to be (work), I can add to my trip report.

First, the hindsight basics:

Things I loved, loved, loved:

-- seeing DISers all over the ship. I think I ran into Steve K. every single day, and everyone else at least every other day
-- our verandah!!! My dh swears that he will never ever sail without one, and that it's unlikely he'll want to sail in anything other than Bill's cabin next time.
-- Our server, Leo (from India). This is the first DCL cruise where we liked our server, and he made up for the prior mediocre ones. he was amazing.
-- Castaway Cay. This is only our second CC stop (last time we missed it due to hurricanes), and it was better than I remembered. Definitley our best day on the cruise.
-- the counselors in the 3-4 group -- they were amazing with the kids

Things I didn't love so much:

-- the new dining seating. We had a 5:30 seating, and it was rough making it to dinner on CC day, and we missed a lot of character signings because of the very early seating.
-- the counselors in the 5-7 group -- we saw some very rude CMs in the Lab, as well as one very rude CM in the Club. All 3 were from the 5-7 group. We ended up switching our dd5 to the younger group because she didn't like a few of the counselors, either and didn't want to go to the Club. Once switched, she didn't want to leave.

As far as ports, we didn't love St. Maarten, but also didn't do any tours because our dd2 was too young for most of them. We did, however, really like St. Thomas -- much more than we had before. We took a cab downtown and stuck to the historical sights (like the second oldest synogague in the western hemisphere -- very cool!), and had a great time walking the very hilly historic district.

We didn't have enough time in the day to do everything we wanted to. Plus, our youngest was not at all happy in the Club, so she only stayed there for dinner at Palo. Our kids were much more misbehaved than we've ever seen them -- probably vacation overload, mixed with a pre-cruise cold. But it was exhausting to be with them, as much as I love them, and I'm not sure we'll cruise again until the little one is closer to 5.

Oh, and if you were there during the Topsiders meltdown, I truly apologize.

 

[cruisecrzy]

We were all on the eastern -- it was Thursday morning at 11:30. Last day at sea.

MarcyIn Florida,
Thank you for the info. It is a big help in making our plans. Thanks for your likes and dislikes. It makes us feel better that we decided on the late seating again. We hate eating so late, but we are afraid of feeling rushed trying to get to the early seating. Thanks for easing our worries.

 

[Johnna_Story]

Hey Feb 4 Disers - if you can believe it, we are already thinking about when we can go again! We're probably looking at 2008... anyone want to join us??

I've uploaded the digital pictures, and sent in the other 12 rolls of film for uploading. Will do the day 3 trip report tonight for anyone who's waiting for it...

 

[steveandtonya]

We just got home around 8:45 am this morning. We left Orlando around 10:30 Monday morning and drove straight through. We are very very tired. It was great getting to meet most of you last week on the ship. It was fun seeing familiar faces. Will write more later.

Steve

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

Hey Feb 4 Disers - if you can believe it, we are already thinking about when we can go again! We're probably looking at 2008... anyone want to join us??

I've uploaded the digital pictures, and sent in the other 12 rolls of film for uploading. Will do the day 3 trip report tonight for anyone who's waiting for it...

Hahahaha -- we're in.

Actually the one big regret I have is NOT hooking up dinner reservations with you and mark, or one of the other families with similarly-aged kids. I think we would have enjoyed dinner more if we hadn't been at a table for 4.